Francine Shapiro (February 18, 1948 – June 16, 2019) was an American psychologist and educator who originated and developed eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), a form of psychotherapy for resolving the symptoms of traumatic and other disturbing life experiences. In 1987, she had an experience walking through a park that ignited the chance observation that moving her eyes from side to side appeared to reduce the disturbance of negative thoughts and memories. This experience led her to examine this phenomenon more systematically. Working with approximately 70 volunteers, she developed standardized procedures to maximize therapeutic outcomes, conducted additional research and published a randomized controlled study with trauma victims. After further research and elaboration of the methodology, she published a textbook in 1995 detailing the eight phases of this form of psychotherapy. EMDR was recommended as an effective treatment for trauma by some international practice guidelines. Research on the efficacy of EMDR as a treatment for military personnel with PTSD is ongoing. A 2018 study compared intensive daily and weekly applications of EMDR treatment for veterans with PTSD, finding it effective "when offered in both weekly treatment format as well as the intensive 10-day format on an outpatient basis." A 2019 study found the treatment was not effective for active military and post-military service personnel, but the study admits “This negative finding may be real but may also be due to chance and several other factors including small sample sizes leading to insufficient power, chronicity and treatment-resistance of participants, and sub-optimal delivery of EMDR (two studies reported novice EMDR therapists with only level one training (2 days) (Carlson et al., 1998; Jensen, 1994) and two studies offered only two EMDR therapy sessions.” As well, the treatment received a 'conditionally recommended' rating by the American Psychological Association in 2017 along with brief eclectic psychotherapy and narrative exposure therapy. This rating was behind 'strongly recommended' treatments such as CBT, CPT, PE, and CT. Early life Shapiro was born in Brooklyn, the daughter of Dan, who managed a garage and a fleet of taxis, and his wife, Shirley. The death of her younger sister Debra at the age of nine affected her deeply. Education Shapiro held a BA (1968) and MA (1974) in English Literature from Brooklyn College, City University of New York. In 1974, while employed full-time as a high school English teacher, she enrolled in a PhD program in English Literature at